Nicola Benedetti

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Nicola Benedetti
Background information
Birth name	Nicola Benedetti
Website	NicolaBenedetti.com

Nicola Benedetti (born July 1987 West Kilbride, North Ayrshire) is a Scottish violinist.

Nicola Benedetti started to learn the violin at the age of four. By the age of nine, she had already passed the eight grades of musical examinations, and in September 1997 began to study at the Yehudi Menuhin School for young musicians in rural Surrey, England.

At the end of her first year, she played solo in the school's annual concert at Wigmore Hall, and performed in London and Paris as soloist in Bach's Concerto in D minor for two violins and orchestra. She played in a memorial concert at Westminster Abbey celebrating the life and work of Yehudi Menuhin.

In the following year, Nicola performed with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra and Scottish Opera, amongst others. In 2002, she won the United Kingdom's Brilliant Prodigy Competition, broadcast by Carlton Television. She left the Menuhin School shortly after, and at the age of 15 began studying with Maciej Rakowski, former leader of the English Chamber Orchestra.

At the age of 16, she won the BBC Young Musician of the Year competition in May 2004, performing Karol Szymanowski's First Violin Concerto, which was not an obvious choice, in the final. She won the music section of the Top Scot award in December 2005^[1].

Five months later, she played for the opening of the new Scottish Parliament building in Edinburgh. At the end of 2004, she made the first in a series of recordings with Universal Classics and Jazz.

Her debut album released on the Deutsche Grammophon label in April 2005 included Szymanowski's Concerto No. 1, the Chausson Poème, the Havanaise by Saint-Saëns, and a trio of contemplative miniatures by Massenet, Brahms (arranged by Jascha Heifetz) and John Tavener, the last of which, Fragment for the Virgin, was written for and performed by Nicola.

Her second album, recorded with the Academy of St. Martin in the Fields was released on 15 May 2006. Works include Mendelssohn's Violin Concerto in E Minor, Mozart's Adagio for Violin and Orchestra, Schubert's Serenade and Ave Maria, and James MacMillan's From Ayrshire, which was written especially for her.

[edit] UK Classical Chart performance

[edit] Reference

^ Top Scot award ceremony 2005, The Scotsman, 1 Dec 2005 - "But the young stars of Scotland were snapping at their heels, with the teenagers Nicola Benedetti and Andrew Murray being awarded prizes for their contributions to music and sport, respectively."